This cute baby takes his sweet time, and I do love that about him. No one needs a baby who walks at six months. Only inexperienced, first time parents see a teeny baby with major mobility and cheer. Veteran parents know the destruction that was just unleashed on their homes, and actively root for baby to lay on the floor until he is, oh. . .26. Mobile children pull books off shelves and tear pages. They find light sockets. They dive head first off beds. They pull Christmas trees down. They think the floor is a smorgasbord of opportunity for the orally fixated, and laugh in the face of the Heimlich Maneuver.

I was naive once. I walked around the house with Jonas, I encouraged his every developmental step, cheered as he mastered playground equipment meant for five year olds at a mere 12 months. I have paid for that ever since. By the time he was three he had climbed onto the neighbor’s roof, with no ladder in sight. He was fearless. He was all skill and no sense, and it’s a dangerous combination!

When Maggie showed up, I wore her in a sling until she was two and a half, hoping she would never gain enough coordination to do anything dangerous. Turns out, she is as clumsy as her mother and grandmother combined. Perpetually tipsy on nothing stronger than chocolate milk, the girl has literally beat the snot out of herself while walking a straight line with nothing to trip over. She is her mother’s daughter.

Having Gabriel, and being well aware of exactly how fleeting babyhood is, I have done almost nothing to encourage him to move. Up until about ten days ago, at precisely nine months and two days, he obliged me by doing nothing more than scooting backward and pivoting on his tummy. At that point I made a tactical error, putting my cell phone on the floor about five feet away from him. All of his instinctual humanity worked together as in one slow, halting movement he shifted his weight off of one knee and pulled it forward. His hands slapped the wood floors, and suddenly, there he was, belly flopped on top of my phone, very, very proud of himself.

Within four days, he was on his knees pulling up to everything. The cupboards, the entertainment center, the toilet. Nothing is out of bounds for him, and it is getting worse every day. I knew I was in for it the day the older kids left the refrigerator open and I found him pulled up to a shelf, happily munching a tortilla. Because his first love is food, I now find him hanging around the kitchen a lot, trying to find a snack on the floor and hoping against hope that someone leaves that fridge open again.

I was asked to help spread the word about thus new Infant Nutrition site. It is very informative and if you are looking for some ideas on how to better serve your child’s nutritional needs, this is a good resource!

My favorite part was the video, and all the fun facts to think on, and the complex scientific break down of a baby’s nutrition needs. Did you know that in comparison, if a grown man was to have an infants calorie needs, he would need 9000 calories per day? Fascinating! Check it out.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Mead Johnson. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Hi.

My kids are puking. And feverish. Well, the older two are, I have kept the baby at arms length of the virus that is likely the much talked about H1N1. I am not the type to drag anyone to the doctor unless they really need it, and so far this is your typical flu, only very respiratory system involved.

Anyway. Kinda busy with the vomit and the two day migraine going on in my own body. So! Much! Fun!

Hmm so what is up at my place. . .

Air Force: has given us their FOURTH deadline on when they let us know if/where we move. This means that three times they have said they would do their job and didn’t. I am not holding my breath for the “by the 30th, at the latest!” Aw, heck, maybe they’ll surprise me. And then I can draw a winner!

I am re-evaluating my time and my work and my list of commitments. Going to make changes. I’m realizing that I no longer want the things I used to want, and that there are “fun” things that I don’t need any more. And I have decided this is not post partum depression or anxiety talking, it’s me, and I ought to listen. Change will be good.

I am also hyper focusing on Christmas. I did this last year as well, and think I need to chill just a wee bit. However, a broad fact has come to light over the past year. My family will be celebrating holidays on our own more often than not for the next many, many years. This has a lot to do with being military and is also personal choice. But this being the case, I really want to continue to develop the traditions that will be just ours, and not the larger family’s. I also want to make sure that I can provide the kind of pretty, festive, holidays that I grew up with, and that is hard! I grew up with a ton of extended family cooking and planning and baking and decorating- and this being alone means it’s all on me.

I know you can have a lovely Christmas with no presents or tree or table decor, but I am starting to make goals of investing in these decorations and traditions for my own little unit. I used to want to be with family. Now I want to be with MY little family (even if they’re all pukey and whiney right now). Which is good, because I am going to be with my family whether I like it or not ha!

So, last year we bought a few new Christmas items, and this year I am planning to do the same. As much as I am awestruck by the beauty that is a Pottery Barn catalog, I can’t just look at a table setting and buy the whole page. (Will I ever get to buy a page from that catalog? Can I put that on the bucket list? Right next to Ride in a Hot Air Balloon and See Norway?)

Anyway (boy I’m rambley tonight- so very sleep deprived, my readers, so tired) I’ve decided that since Gabe is here, we will get cute stockings this year. I also want to buy something to make my wonderfully pre-dinged table look like we could actually eat a holiday dinner there. . .some sort of centerpiece or table runner or ummm, placemats? Confession: I have almost no skill in the decor department. Confession #2: I have incredibly expensive taste. It has nothing to do with the price tag. Show me a room full of stuff and I will gravitate to the item with the largest price tag. Case in point? I was trying to find a tree skirt I like (I’ve tried for about four Christmases now). I was searching the web, and scrolling through page after page on Amazon when something finally caught my eye. It was a gorgeous tree skirt and a steal at only $1300. You can buy matching stockings for $300. Each. What do you put in a $300 stocking?

Like I said. Expensive taste.

It bites me in the butt.

Must tend to sick kid.

Have a good day, gentle readers.

The Air Force isn’t getting back to us on the BOP thing. We hit the 7 week mark and I asked Chris to call. They said it had been reviewed on Sept 6th and “gee, someone should have gotten back to you on that”. But no one has. So they said, “we’ll flag this and someone will get back to you in 3 duty days.

That came and went as well.

For an institution whose core value is “Integrity First”, you’d think they could at least play by their own rules, no?

So that just bites.

I have no idea when we’ll hear. In fact, if we don’t hear in a few more weeks I will probably just tell Chris to cancel the dang request and go back to the usual not having any idea whether or not the Air Force plans to move us any time soon. The amplified, hopeful version is enough to make your head explode. Imagine waiting for pregnancy test results. Now do that for two months.

That’s where I’m at.

Well, it has been a few months now of owning my Frigidaire Affinity Washer and Dryer. It has been an awesome few months.

Of note: nothing has shrunk.

This may not be a big deal to you, but at our house, I can’t buy a shirt without having it fit a two year old within a few months. Sometimes it is my fault, and sometimes my helpful husband has a hand in it. This dryer has several settings and I always make it a point to choose the one that leaves my clothes barely dry. I haven’t shrunk a thing. Because it remembers my last setting, my husband usually just chooses the one it is set to. It is beautiful.

Also beautiful? No one in my family has gotten a soap rash from poorly rinsed clothing. In my highly allergic household, this is a big deal.

He is a luscious baby.

Did this with the September Nook Kit- featuring Pink Paislee papers. The butterfly is a Martha Stewart butterfly punch.